Dealer Markup Ripoff; Quote Not Honored - Rick Case Kia - Duluth, Georgia

[gilthanis1]

I go to USAA and their Car Buying service as I am a disabled vet and was referred to the service by several military buddies who said it was very smooth, quick and painless. My wife and I get approved for a blanket amount to use for the car, I get 2 dealer leads and have price quotes directly for a specific VIN on a Sunset Yellow GT2 RWD from Rick Case Kia in Duluth, GA and a GT2 AWD from ‘Friendly’ Kia in New Port Richey, FL. Sweet! I can finally get my car……..Oh how I wish that was true. After taking over 8 hours to finally speak with David Clarida, Sales Manager in GA, who had left me a voice mail at ~10AM on Monday 19FEB18, his first question was “What do you want to do about this car?” I want to buy it, that’s why I got the quote and I’m already approved for financing, easy deal and we all go home happy. He then tells me “We are not selling that Yellow Stinger for the $48,600 quoted price as that quote doesn’t have the $5000 ‘Dealer Addendum Limited Edition Markup’ included. Wait, what? David tells me that the quote was incorrect and they will not honor that quote, even though it is for this specific VIN number. Everything I read from USAA, which I know uses TrueCar as a partner, stated that the dealers would honor these prices and that’s why I made sure I was financed to begin with. David tells me that in no way will he sell me this car for the quoted price because it was wrong. How is it wrong? Other dealers in the list didn’t have a price listed, or just didn’t put their Sunset Yellow up on the USAA site with a 'Contact Dealer for Price' listed.

I am currently dealing with USAA to see what can be done. I know there is no legal recourse, other than to get the word out that they are SHADY SHADY SHADY and to avoid them at all costs.

I spoke with a USAA/TrueCar rep and was informed that it is up to the dealer to make sure the pricing is correct and they can certainly leave a price off if they want to price it differently because of options, etc. So the baseline problem is the dealer is throwing the price out there to get leads and then jacking the price up as soon as your at the stealership to close the deal.

FTC complaints filed against them for false advertising, which is exactly what they did and what I was told to do by 2 different lawyers I spoke with.

2 relevant sections of USAA quote posted. Full 10 page PDF is available if mods/admins want to verify validity as well. They still have it listed at $50,100 on their website.

 

[mldavis2]

If it makes you feel any better, ALL yellow Stingers listed in dealer inventories are shown at MSRP. What they try to charge you is something else and depends on the dealer. It's a good way to weed them out and find who's honest and who is overly greedy.

 

[gilthanis1]

Then they all need to be reported. They can not do that, unless they have every single fee listed in an advertisement. I have double and triple checked this, and they get away with it because no one complains, we just walk away. If they provide you something in writing, then they have really screwed up when they change at the last minute. Horribly illegal? No, but we can not put up with this behavior. They need to sell these cars worse than we ever need to buy them and they don't understand this point.

The worst offense is giving me something in writing, and then changing after the fact, thats the main problem with the 2 dealers I dealt with. Well the 2 that didn't just try to bend me over from the start of a deal with $5k+ markups.

 

[Berzerker]

Then they all need to be reported. They can not do that, unless they have every single fee listed in an advertisement. I have double and triple checked this, and they get away with it because no one complains, we just walk away. If they provide you something in writing, then they have really screwed up when they change at the last minute. Horribly illegal? No, but we can not put up with this behavior. They need to sell these cars worse than we ever need to buy them and they don't understand this point.

The worst offense is giving me something in writing, and then changing after the fact, thats the main problem with the 2 dealers I dealt with. Well the 2 that didn't just try to bend me over from the start of a deal with $5k+ markups.

The unfortunate truth is that these cars are flying off the lots, so the dealers have every incentive to mark up the prices. They unfortunately don't really need your sale.

Go to Cobb County Kia in Kennesaw, ask for James Wind. I got my car from him at MSRP w/ some add-ons, it was a great buying process. Not limited edition yellow, but still.

 

[gilthanis1]

The unfortunate truth is that these cars are flying off the lots, so the dealers have every incentive to mark up the prices. They unfortunately don't really need your sale.

Go to Cobb County Kia in Kennesaw, ask for James Wind. I got my car from him at MSRP w/ some add-ons, it was a great buying process. Not limited edition yellow, but still.

And I don't need to buy their dam car either, saying a business doesn't need a customer is a ridiculous excuse for anything. In 60-90 days once the early adopters and must-have fanatics have purchased them, and the rest sit on the lot for months because the greedy bastards still want to screw people over, they will realize what they did wrong.

Same thing happened with the VW R32, Golf R, Dodge Challenger Hellcat, and many others.

At this point all dealers just need to be put out of business and we order straight from the manufacturer. Click, deliver, pay, done. I have never even thought that was a good idea until this happened. Now I fully support it and would push for it.

 

[ballistic]

And I don't need to buy their dam car either, saying a business doesn't need a customer is a ridiculous excuse for anything. In 60-90 days once the early adopters and must-have fanatics have purchased them, and the rest sit on the lot for months because the greedy bastards still want to screw people over, they will realize what they did wrong.

Same thing happened with the VW R32, Golf R, Dodge Challenger Hellcat, and many others.

At this point all dealers just need to be put out of business and we order straight from the manufacturer. Click, deliver, pay, done. I have never even thought that was a good idea until this happened. Now I fully support it and would push for it.

he's not being a dick. he's just being honest with you. they don't need your sale right now. what can ya do?

 

[Berzerker]

And I don't need to buy their dam car either, saying a business doesn't need a customer is a ridiculous excuse for anything. In 60-90 days once the early adopters and must-have fanatics have purchased them, and the rest sit on the lot for months because the greedy bastards still want to screw people over, they will realize what they did wrong.

Same thing happened with the VW R32, Golf R, Dodge Challenger Hellcat, and many others.

At this point all dealers just need to be put out of business and we order straight from the manufacturer. Click, deliver, pay, done. I have never even thought that was a good idea until this happened. Now I fully support it and would push for it.

And in 60-90 days, they'll stop the markups and everything will be back to normal.

I'm not trying to say you're in the wrong, it's just simple supply/demand economics. If you can wait, wait, and the prices will adjust accordingly.

 

[iclicku]

The salt is real.

 

[SEA Stinger]

@gilthanis1, sorry to hear that Rick Case KIA tried to jerk you around like this. Good on ya for fighting back!

You mention that you obtained price quotes. Was a quote provided directly to you by the dealer, or did you just get the price from USAA/Truecar?

The most definitive offer is a quote that the dealer directly makes to you, either in writing or via email. If they renege on that, then you have a stronger case against the dealer for deceptive practices, etc.

If you were relying on an advertised price that the dealer failed to honor, that's totally bogus too. Some recourse may be possible, e.g., by showing deliberate false and deceptive advertising. However, it's common for dealers and others to put disclaimers on their websites saying things like "all prices subject to verification", "dealer not liable for advertising errors", etc. Sleazy, yes.

 

[KiaofMuncie]

We have a Yellow GT2 AWD available at sticker. Zero mark up. We can honor your military discount. We ship anywhere in the United States. We would love to help you out.

 

[SEA Stinger]

he's not being a dick. he's just being honest with you. they don't need your sale right now. what can ya do?

Dealers can price their cars however they want. In itself, that's not being dishonest or being a dick.

However, deceptive advertising that misrepresents the price and then jacks it up when the customer tries to buy certainly is being dishonest, and it is being a dick.

 

[ballistic]

Dealers can price their cars however they want. In itself, that's not being dishonest or being a dick.

However, deceptive advertising that misrepresents the price and then jacks it up when the customer tries to buy certainly is being dishonest, and it is being a dick.

i wasn't referring to the dealer, i was referring to berzerker. i was just saying that berzerker wasn't trying to be a dick with his comment. gilthanis didn't need to jump down his throat.

 

[SEA Stinger]

i wasn't referring to the dealer, i was referring to berzerker. i was just saying that berzerker wasn't trying to be a dick with his comment. gilthanis didn't need to jump down his throat.

Okay, gotcha. Looked like you were talking about the dealer.

 

[Berzerker]

We have a Yellow GT2 AWD available at sticker. Zero mark up. We can honor your military discount. We ship anywhere in the United States. We would love to help you out.

We have a winrar.

OP, please take this deal.

 

[STNGRNV]

The unfortunate truth is that these cars are flying off the lots

Compared to what? I think this is a bit of an overstatement. Maybe it's true where you are, but my dealers have had the same two (and just added a third) Sunset Yellow GTs since they came ashore.

 

[Berzerker]

Compared to what? I think this is a bit of an overstatement. Maybe it's true where you are, but my dealers have had the same two (and just added a third) Sunset Yellow GTs since they came ashore.

Compared to the supply. Kia held back and they're being sold like crazy here in the SEUS. Obviously you don't see many on the road since it's still new-ish, but 3 of them sold (including mine) on just the weekend I was there.

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but this car is selling crazy well for Kia and anyone else's expectation.

 

[STNGRNV]

Compared to the supply. Kia held back and they're being sold like crazy here in the SEUS. Obviously you don't see many on the road since it's still new-ish, but 3 of them sold (including mine) on just the weekend I was there.

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but this car is selling crazy well for Kia and anyone else's expectation.

I'm in the SEUS (Alabama) and it's different here. It seems like they sell about one a week. If they would change that ridiculous Money Factor they'd sell twice as many.

 

[gilthanis1]

No Dealer Markup - Kia of Muncie - Sunset Yellow GT2 AWD FINALLY GOT ONE!!!

 

[SEA Stinger]

No Dealer Markup - Kia of Muncie - Sunset Yellow GT2 AWD FINALLY GOT ONE!!!

Alright! Congratulations, @gilthanis!

 

[gilthanis1]

he's not being a dick. he's just being honest with you. they don't need your sale right now. what can ya do?

I should clarify here that I wasn't trying to be an ass, was just making a statement. Perserverence paid off and I was able to get my Sunset Yellow that I wanted from Kia of Munice.

I still HATE these dealers trying to rip people off and will continue to be a pain in their ass and do whatever I can to drive people away from them.